I Remember.

When I was a little girl I would look up to my dad with big eyes. He was my hero.

What I remember most was the quiet talks I had with him alone. He was a different person then. He was attentive and caring the way I always wanted him to be.

I remember the day I took my police entrance exams. It was the turning point in my life and he was there when I got home. He asked me a battery of questions that made me realize that he really cared. Being one of seven children it was a rarity to spend quality time with my dad. He showed a side of himself that I had never seen before. It was then that I knew he really loved me.

It has been 24 years since I last spoke to my dad. He left this world in 1985. There isn't a day that I don't think about him.

The other day I was working on an order. It was a "Daddy - The first man I loved" key fob and as I worked quietly my youngest daughter, Renee came over to me and whispered in my ear. "Mommy, can you make one of those for me so I can give it to daddy?" She lowered her change purse on the table and dumped out a pile of coins.

Daddy - The First Man I Loved

Back side of key fob

I looked at her with different eyes. I saw me in her. John was her daddy and hero and she wanted to give him something special. She wanted me to make him the very thing I have been making for so many others. My heart was a flutter. How sweet I thought. I had missed the obvious when it was standing right beside me all the time.

She whispered that it was our secret and that daddy wasn't to know. She had heard me read some of the comments I'd received from buyers and she wanted her daddy's to be special just like them. I gave her money back to her and promised that I would make the most special one for him and it would be the only one in the world. *pinkie swear* So I did.

I would like to wish all our great dad's out there a wonderful father's day.

From our home to yours!!




Anne and family ^i^

For Your Eyes Only

It has been quite a ride for John and I since we joined the Etsy "handcrafters" community. We never imagined in our wildest dreams how well we would do. During the Christmas rush and again in the days approaching Valentine's Day orders came steadily. I lay awake at night processing the orders in my head...., sigh!!! Both John and I are perfectionists so if something doesn't look right...., back to the drawing board we go. There are so many talented artisan's out there coming up with some brilliant ideas that it keeps us on my toes. We are constantly striving for our "A" game and aspire to do better with each new item we create. That alone is a task in itself..., whew, I'm tired already. :)

My biggest hurdled, as of late, was finding a way to make leather jewelry more appealing to men. And I don't mean adding more spikes, rivets or studs to a thick piece of leather. I mean a piece of jewelry that a man would like to wear - something classy, something sexy.

I racked my brain searching for a unique concept. Our personalized word bands seemed to be working for us so I started there. Most of our buyers are woman and bought according to a woman's perspective. I know my husband isn't too fond of wearing wordy wristbands expressing sentiments of love but he and my son do like the more masculine, dark brown or black rugged look of our personalized leather key chains that we made over Christmas. They were very successful and we were quite pleased, however I now wanted create something more, something better. As they say, if you put it out there the universe will deliver.

Well the universe delivered!!

On January 21st a fellow Etsyian, Laura of Lovely Lolli convo'd me and asked if could create a wristband that her husband would wear. She claimed he was a manly man. She drew my attention to one of our personalized wristbands listed on my site. A dark brown word wristband with high lighted text and contrasting tan topstitching along the edges. Laura advised me that her husband wouldn't wear a wristband with sentimental words on it. Was there a way I could stamp text on the inside of the band.., was that possible? She wanted the text inscribed on the inside and hidden from his buddies attention. I thought about it for a minute and accepted the challenge. What a brilliant idea she had. Of course!!!

I tossed the idea around with John and he agreed it was doable.

I made the first one for Laura (pictured below) and sent her a picture of it. She loved it!!! Thoughts become things and I had my classy new product. From a simple idea came the secret message wristband, or as I like to call it "For your eyes only" leather wristband for men.

Now us ladies came pour out our hearts to our men and they can wear a stylin' piece of jewelry without being heckled by there buddies. A win win situation ;=)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!